


Winter Support

by Rin_chan32



Category: Houseki no Kuni
Genre: F/F, Implied Cairngorm/Lapis Lazuli, M/M, Other, houseki no exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:33:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22147963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_chan32/pseuds/Rin_chan32
Summary: When Phosphophyllite wakes up early in the morning from yet another nightmare, they turn to the only other person who will listen to their early morning rants.
Relationships: Cairngorm & Ghost Quartz (Houseki no Kuni), Cairngorm/Phosphophyllite (Houseki no Kuni), Ghost Quartz & Phosphophyllite (Houseki no Kuni)
Kudos: 8





	Winter Support

**Author's Note:**

> Finally got my lazy ass up to post this on here 😔  
> But I am actually super proud of this, which is honestly something that doesn’t happen often.

Phos shot up in their bed, covered in sweat and completely out of breath from their nightmare. They closed their eyes as they choked on their own saliva and struggled to get out of their bed. They navigated their way to the bathroom and turned on the light and looked in the mirror staring at their own reflection. Their eyes were red, their skin was pale, their hair looked like it wasn’t brushed for days, and their shirt practically was about to fall off their shoulders. They had bags underneath their eyes and the only thing that really stood out to them were the hickies on their shoulder and neck. They stared at their reflection for what felt like forever before their lip started quivering and they started sobbing. Their legs gave out and they collapsed, hiding their face in their shaking hands. 

The cold winter months was always the worst for Phosphophyllite since it was their past partner Antarcticite passed away. It was a sudden death and apparently there was nothing that they could do to save them. But, of course, they never told themselves that and said the exact opposite. Every winter they were haunted by that day and couldn’t sleep from thinking of what they should’ve done. Phos was more than positive that they could take their battle with their brain by themselves, but they were wrong every winter. These months are always their lowest points in their lives because they’re just trapped in their guilt. 

The teal gem let out shaky breaths and they put their hands on the floor, trying to get up to go back into their own bed. In the end, they just crawled into the hallway and stumbled to their dark bedroom. They laid in bed and let the tears run down their cheeks as they stared at the wall across from them. They laid their and sniffed for a while before they stopped and reached for their phone. Phos wiped their wet face before they sat up and squinted from the bright light in their hand. They looked through all of their notifications, pausing again when they saw a familiar name on the list. It was just a simple ‘you good?’, but it really lifted the weight on their shoulders. 

It wasn’t much longer until they had their phone against their ear and waited for the other to pick up the phone. They almost gave up hope of getting reassurance from the other, the ringing ending at the very last second. They were greeted by the classic tired and upset groan from Cairngorm as they woke up from their sleep. “Phos…? Why are you calling this late.”

A small smile came to their lips when they heard their voice, already feeling someone better hearing them. 

They decided to avoid the obvious problem at hand and acted like everything was fine. “Nothing,” they sang as they rubbed their legs together like a cricket. “I was just seeing if my favorite person was up so-“

“You had another nightmare about Antarcticite, didn’t you?”

Phos was quiet for a few seconds before they nodded with a sad hum, “Yea, it came back. How’d you figure me out?”

“Because you said that Yellow was your favorite person the last time we met.”

“Well, they gave me food so of course they’re going to be my favorite.”

The other scoffed before another sound left their mouth as they probably stretched. “I’ll leave the door open for you, Ghost is still visiting Lapis so we have the place to ourselves for a while.”

Phosphophyllite forgot the reason that they called, the same heaviness from before returning to their chest. They nodded with a hum once more, “okay. I’ll start heading that way, thank you, Cairn.”

“It’s no big deal.”

The teal gem softly muttered ‘bye’ before they hung up and looked at their uncomfortable room. The darkness around them felt comforting, but it scared them from not seeing anything around them. They sighed as they set their phone down and slid back under the covers, staring at the wall across from them. They rolled back over to look at the empty space in their bed and frowned at the crumpled blankets next to them. They felt, looking at that spot, that if looked hard enough, they were sure that Antarcticite’s face or scent would come back to haunt them at one point. A low chuckle left their lips as they turned their light on, “god, I’m pathetic…”

Phos left the warmth of their bed and went to their dresser to put on pants over their bare legs. They put on their fuzziest socks, their warmest jacket, and grabbed a black turtleneck to hide their back. They then grabbed their phone before they went to get their II scarf and hat that was in the other room. They figured that they’ll stay until the morning so they went ahead and grabbed their charger and keys. They didn’t bother taking another change of clothes since they’ll probably sleep pantless for another night. Plus they were pretty sure Cairngorm wouldn’t care, since when do they care about anything, and Ghost would give them stuff. After getting all of the things they needed they turned off the lights and left their place. 

  
  


Although the teal and white haired gems were technically a “thing”, they never really considered themselves to be together. Phos leaned on them for support from after Antarcticite passed away and they’ve close since that falling point. They were able to return the favor when Lapis hospital for medical reasons. ended up being in the hospital because of a problem with their head that ended up getting worse over time. Their “relationship” was like a switch and they would always switch terms if they were just dating or that they did the things that they did for support rather than love. They weren’t compatible in any way, shape, or form,and always had an argument over one thing or another since they had different thought processes. But, they always made up at the end of the day, since they both knew that they couldn’t deal with anything alone at this point. 

Phos let out a sigh as they watched their breath form and linger in the cold air around them, waiting for the damn hand to turn into the walking man. In the end, they ended up jaywalking with no cars came through the intersection and they went on their way to the other side of the street. Their teal eyes looked towards the street names to see if they were close to the others apartment since they still somehow forgot where they lived since they never really left the house to go places. It was normally Cairngorm who came over because they were always in that part of town since they were usually in the hospital with their sibling most of the time. Plus Phos often begged them to come to them since they never felt like walking the few blocks that separated the two from each other.

The teal gem stopped in their tracks when they saw the darker gem coming from the opposite side of the street. They recognized the others dark skin and white hair that poked out of the black beanie that they had on. Their walk and bobbing head across the street gave them way plus their signature resting bitch face. The both of them came to a stop when they realized that the other across was them was the one they were going to . Phos spoke up first, “I thought that I was coming over to your place.”

“You agreed so quickly and I didn’t think that you were actually going to come.”

“Well, you’re not wrong. I almost went back to sleep right after I hung up.”

“Mm…” Cairn hummed as they walked under an awning to get away from the harsh winds in the streets. “Do you want to go to a bar or something? I’m pretty sure there’s one not too far away from here.”

“Yea, I’m fine with that.”

The two of them turned around and walked together to the place the slightly older gem thought that there was a bar nearby. They weren’t entirely wrong, but the one that they had in mind was an expensive place. It had fancy wines and beers that neither could afford with the money that they had in their wallets. So I stress if getting drunk like they had hoped, they just had water and pretended to be fancy. They had fun with it for a while before they started getting looks from people who could actually afford the stuff there. They were quiet for a while to try to be mature again and when people stopped looking at them. “When did you wake up?”

Phos shrugged, “I don’t remember, I just remember waking up and then crying my eyes out.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yea… It was pretty bad.” They muttered, looking down at the ground as they hid their frown with the cup. 

Cairngorm nodded as they put their lips on the rim of their glass cup, “Ghost said that you could stay the night at our place tonight. They probably won’t be home until later in the day so you can go around pantless or whatever until they get back.”

“I figured that would happen.”

“Which part? You being without pants or Ghost letting you stay?”

“What will you give me if I said both?” Phosphophyllite raised their eyebrow as they tried to be fancy once more as they took a sip of water. 

Cairngorm smiled softly as they set their cup down, “I don’t know. It depends on what you want from me.”

The teal gem opened their mouth, about to say Antarcticite before they closed it and realized that they couldn’t come back. They didn’t want to burden them more with their need to have the other back. They were sure they didn’t mind hearing them rant about them again, but they didn’t want to test it. 

Instead, they just have them a gentle smile, “just buy me food. I’ll gladly take my reward and brag about me being better.”

Cairn scoffed and shook their head, “of course, why am I not surprised that you wanted that.”

Phos laughed slightly at that and drank more of their fancy water from their glass cup in their hands. “How is Lapis doing? You haven’t updated me on them for a while.” They finished the rest of their water, looking up at the other across from them. 

Cairngorm sighed before they nodded softly, “they’re… they’re doing better than they were before. They’re starting to be a smartass like usual, so we’re hoping that they stay that way and get better. But they don’t tell us much, do we have to pry stuff out of them or be there at the exact same time the doctor is there. I don’t ever go there so, Ghost usually tells me what’s going on. But they haven’t told me anything serious so I have to go up there myself one of these days.”

“I see… well, that’s good that they’re getting better.” They replied, ignoring the tightness in their chest as they smiled. Of course, they were more than happy to know that the other was getting better, they weren’t some sadist. But they knew the moment the other left the hospital the little thing that they had going on would ultimately stop. 

Cairngorm always favored Lapis— both siblings did and looked up to them for as long as Phos knew them. Without a doubt, they knew that they meant something to them, especially with all of the time they spent together. But, they did know that the darker gem had a problem with turning away from problems to avoid conflict. They knew that all of this attention they were getting was to pretend that Lapis wasn’t in the hospital. They didn’t want to be cast aside the moment they returned. They wanted to be with the other for just a little longer, or just until spring comes again. 

The two finished talking and decided that it was finally time to leave since they were getting looks again. Cairn chugged their water and they both left a tip since they didn’t want to go somewhere nice and not spend anything. It was a guilt tip, as Phos called it to try to lighten the mood a little before they head out again to go somewhere else. They wandered around in the cold before they retreated and took shelter in a McDonald’s that was a few blocks away. 

They took over the only clean booth and stayed there until they decided to go get something to eat. Cairngorm decided to be a good person and bought the other their food and came back with an entire pile of what they ordered. “Can I ask you something serious?” Phos asked when the other sat down and got comfortable. 

The white haired gem paused and looked at them with their thin eyes slightly widened. “What is it…?”

Phos opened their mouth before they closed it, a huff coming out of their nose as they tried to gather their thoughts. Their eyes focused on some stain on the tile flooring before they looked back up at the other still waiting for their response. They sighed and looked back down at the stain, “when Lapis comes out of the hospital, will you still spend time with me?”

They watched the others face go from worried to an emotion that they couldn’t name on the top of their head. They say in silence before the other nodded and put their forearms on the edge of the table. “I mean, at first probably not since they’d want to do stuff with people. But after that, sure, just shoot me a text and I’ll be available for whatever.”

Phos smiled and made a gun with their fingers and pretended to shoot them, “roger that.”

“God, you’re so cheesy.”

“Thanks, I take pride in that.” The teal gem let their smile to grow wider as they put their hand down and grabbed their food from them. 

They finished their terrible cheap food before they grabbed their stuff and headed back to Cairngorms place. They walked on the empty streets side by side, the elders arm around the others shoulder to keep them warm and company. 


End file.
